Dangan Ronpa- A Twist (SYOC)
by SnowFallsSilverOnRoute37
Summary: All OCs have been filled, sorry! The story itself is now in progress!
1. Rules and Regulations (how fun)

I plan to write a Dangan Ronpa-based fic. There'll be two crucial differences.

a) It won't be from Naegi's point of view, but third-person/omniscient, or it'll switch between characters.

b) Speaking of characters... We're not going to have sixteen High Schoolers- there'll be twenty-six.

Which brings me to the rules for submitting characters.

-They are allowed to be self-inserts, but if I find they are too Mary-Sue-ish (self-insert or not) I will change some things about them, or I will reject them.

-I'd like for them to be high-school age (13-19ish), but if you have them be significantly older or younger, please provide a legitimate reason.

-Fill in the form and send it to me by PM, or as a review here. PMs are preferred and easier to document, however.

-Please be professional about this. If you fill in your application without capitalizing "I", replacing "you" with "u", mixing up "you're" and "your" or "there", "their" and "they're", I will be SIGNIFICANTLY less inclined to accept your OC.

Here's the form (you can add more to it. The more detail, the better!):

Name (add nicknames if you like):

Age:

Super High School Level:

Height:

Weight (I will not let you get away with; she's sensitive about it, or; classified):

Hair Color:

Hairstyle:

Eye Color:

Distinguishing Features (Say, exceptionally thick eyebrows, or an exceptionally corn-like pompadour):

Clothes (One set is preferred):

Personality (Details, details, details! I can't stress this enough!):

History (How were their early years? Please remember that a story like 'Both her parents died and then she became a wizard' is not unprecedented.):

Family/Friends:

Any Secrets:

Strengths:

Weaknesses:

(Optional) Who do you want them to be romantically involved with/have a crush on?:

Why are they the best (Super High School Whatever)? (Did they run a restaurant chain? Set up an art gallery?):

How long?

Why did they become Super HS Level [insert title]?:

I'm going to close by saying you can't whine if I change a little something about your character to suit the storyline better; and if your character turns out to be a murderer or a murder _victim, _that can't be helped, can it? It is Dangan Ronpa, after all.


	2. Who Made It In

Upupupupu~! As it seems, our character slots have been filled despairingly quickly!

It was really a 'first come, first serve' sort of thing, so I'm sorry to those of you who think they could've made one kick-ass character, given a little more time. But be like Koma-*coughs* Naegi and retain your hope, for I may write a similar fic using the Super Dangan Ronpa 2 cast!

Here's yer list of characters who made it;

1. Tohru Kasumi

2. Kanra Mutsuki

3. Yukiko Fuyu

4. Jin Yamanashi

5. Ichiro Yanagi

6. Kairi Saitou

7. Miharu Inoue (I'm sorry in advance- if I misspell this Mahiru, as in Mahiru Koizumi, please correct me as I'm obsessed with SDR2 right now)

8. Gin (Hey, the creator wants it to be Gin. It shall be Gin. I don't wanna set up a whole Celestia-type drama here with the names)

9. Piza Tenshihige (I will go into detail on the weird-ass first name when I write the intro)

10. Shiko Kurosawa (I am aware 'shiko' literally means death-child, just listen to the story behind it. XD)

Thanks to all who applied!


	3. Chapter 1 (The Party Gets Started)

**A/N Yes, I planned to have all of the introductions up in this chapter, but then 1) it wouldn't have been up by Thursday as I promised those of you who messaged me and 2) it would have been too long to read in one sitting, at least for me.**

**But, in the words of Byakuya Togami, it is most dangerous to assume that everybody sees the world through your eyes... **

**Anyway, I hope you'll enjoy this. I'm sorry to those of you whose characters haven't made an appearance yet, but I thought introducing all the OCs first, and THEN the canons, would just make the difference between the two groups more obvious and nobody wants that, right? That's the very reason I had an OC narrate.**

**Right-o, before this gets too rambly, please do critique me- break me down, tell me what was terrible, what could use improvement, whatever, I would just like for it to be contructive or there'd be no point and I'd be a masochist who enjoys abuse and frequents the term 'Byakuya-sama'. *cough* ****_Genocider Syo _*****cough***

**~37**

* * *

Shiko Kurosawa walked the final few steps up to the giant building she was, supposedly, to call her school from now on, feeling, well, a feeling of dread as she twisted a tress of curly brown hair around two fingers.

_They weren't kidding it was Hope's Peak, they could store all the hope for a thousand years to come in here._

She tried to take her mind off it, eyeing the pink cherry blossom trees lining her path on both ways. What were they called? _Sasu-? Naku-? No._ She sighed to herself- _three years in Tokyo and I can only say 'yes', 'no', 'wait', and 'no Japanese'. Oh, and 'death child'. _Shiko.

A small, but sudden realization struck her. These kids were all to be fluent in Japanese, right? They would likely know her as 'death child', instead of 'Shee-kow' as was the reaction she had met in the numerous American schools she attended.

_Maybe that's an improvement._

In retrospect, Shiko would guess that she was so wrapped up in her own mind that she didn't see the huge freaking door in front of her, and walked headlong into it.

The motion knocked her to the floor and earned a snicker from a kid behind her, who was heading the same way.

_Well, I say __**kid…**_

She analyzed his appearance in a split second's time and second-guessed herself.

_He looks pretty tall, __**amply built,**__ to put it nicely, with one helluva mohawk. Not to mention his outfit- he seems to have the color scheme of a giant slice of pizza._

The aforementioned slice of pizza grinned down at Shiko and held out a hand. "_Anata ga tasuke ga hitsu_-?" something something.

_Shitshitshitshitshit._

She took the hand offered to her, but quickly headed the other way, muttering in a small voice; "_Gomen'nasai… Nani arimasen nihongo…_"

Shiko was convinced that she'd either made it clear that she spoke no Japanese, or had such a terrible accent that the slice of pizza assumed so.

Pizza kid turned to the entrance and walked inside, giving her a funny look- who wouldn't have? She **had** abruptly turned around, with no sense of where she was supposed to be heading, after all…

After about five minutes, when Shiko had ascertained that Pizza kid wouldn't see her if she entered, she walked back up to the door and opened it.

She thought she must've been nervous or something, needed something to hold on to, some grip on the world behind the glass doors. The strap of her backpack served this purpose well.

_If I didn't feel like crap before, I sure do now,_ she mused. Promptly, the world began to shift and fuse as if she were viewing it through a pair of haywire 3D goggles.

* * *

_**[i am relatively sure the room isn't supposed to be spinning and what is the ceiling doing in place of the floor silly ceiling go back to the ceiling and things are moving around and now it is dark and my eyes are shut]**_

* * *

The next thing Shiko was aware of was struggling to get her eyes to open properly, sprawled on the floor of what looked like a classroom.

Something was dripping steadily onto her cheek- _ew!_

She sat up quickly, deducing that the puddle of drool on the desk to her left was what the dripping liquid had been. She assumed that she had been sitting at that desk, then, out cold… but Shiko was not known to be a restful sleeper.

Still, to be sprawled on the floor… She supposed it couldn't be helped, considering she had stayed up all night worrying about whether she wouldn't make any friends, whether she would forget her books, whether she would be on time…

_Speaking of time,_ the girl interrupted herself, checking her watch, seeing that it was 8:58AM, (an hour later than when the students had been told to meet in the entrance hall) and muttering a curse word,

_I'd better get to the hall, stat._

She thought it a little pointless to go, still, assuming that classes had started, but she needed someplace to begin looking for everyone, right?

Shiko made her way to the rather bleak and metallic-looking entrance hall, where (she couldn't decide if she was delighted or horrified with this) a bunch of other kids were already socializing or waiting impatiently for something or someone... She had a sinking feeling that **she** was the reason everyone was behind on schedule.

The door shut silently behind her and the first to notice Shiko standing there, unfortunately, was a rather uptight-looking boy in a white uniform, who proceeded to scold her- _just my luck_- in Japanese.

"_ANATA WA KONO OKURETE_-"

-"_Ahh, gomen'nasai, gomen'nasai! Nani arimasen nihongo_! I don't speak Japanese!" She immediately tried to defuse his yelling, in the full realization that she sounded pathetic.

The kid in the uniform gave her a surprised look, and then nodded, switching to flawless- if a little stiff- English.

"HOW COULD YOU ARRIVE THIS LATE?! YOU HAVE BEEN DELAYING PROCEEDINGS FOR SIXTY-TWO MINUTES NOW! I CAN AND WILL REPORT THIS, THE FIRST OPPORTUNITY I GET! IT WAS BAD ENOUGH TO HAVE ONE LATECOMER!" He gestured fiercely to a rather small-looking boy in a green hoodie, who was standing near a blue-haired girl.

Shiko, ironically, thought it a lot less intimidating having this kid (she'd assumed he was a hall monitor, or a prefect, or just a stickler for the rules) rage at her, now that she knew what he was saying.

Still, though, she apologized several times, saying that falling asleep in the middle of a school hallway was a deplorable thing to do, that she was in the wrong in obstructing the learning of others, until he seemed satisfied and Shiko gravitated towards the back of the room where she wouldn't be noticed.

It occurred to her, then, that she probably should introduce herself to the others, but she didn't feel like being the odd-one-out not speaking Japanese. She resolved to seek them out later, as she went along.

Or not.

A frail-looking girl came up to Shiko and offered her a hand. _That's a deja vu,_ she thought.

Once Shiko stood, it became apparent that she was significantly taller than the frail girl, who fiddled with a lock of black hair and looked up at her with icy blue eyes.

"You shouldn't sit here alone…" the black-haired girl deliberated, with a noticeable Japanese accent. "We will go to school together, _hai_? So we must know… our names." The girl smiled, and continued.

"_Watashi wa_- oh, sorry. Ahhh… my name is Fuyu Yukiko. I am the.. high school... level…" She made a painting gesture and muttered to herself; '_Nani o_...'

-"Super High School Level Painter?" Shiko offered.

"_Hai_! I am the Super High School Level Painter!" The girl seemed excited at this development.

-"Ah. I am the Super High School Level Classical Musici-" Shiko wasn't sure the girl would understand. "Music Player, I mean."

The shorter girl nodded in understanding.

-"Well…" Shiko continued. "Nice to meet you, Fuyu." She made to go talk to the others, but Fuyu stopped her.

"Ahhh… please...to call me… Yukiko-chan. Fuyu, my last name."

-"Oh, _gomene_. Thank you for telling me… Yukiko-chan."

So the naming system was backwards here. Last name, then first.

_Oh, man- I'm gonna have to get someone here to teach me. Why did I not hear about this before?_

Shiko decided to skim through the people in the room from left to right, and introduce herself, on Yukiko's advice.

First was a tall girl with light-brown hair and lapis-colored eyes, which she kept fixed on the floor as she spoke. Shiko gave her a tentative 'hello'.

"_Ohayou gozaimasu… Watashi wa Kasumi Tohru_. Ah, Super High School Level Illustrator."

-"...Tohru-chan?" She asked, for confirmation.

Tohru looked at Shiko strangely (_God, how many people are doing this today?_) but nodded.

-"_Watashi wa_-"

Backwards names, right?

"_Watashi wa Kurosawa Shiko desu_. Super High School Level Classical… Music… Player..."

"Shiko? R-really?"

That was the first English word she'd heard out of Tohru.

-"Death child… If I could change my name, I would." Shiko smiled, hoping the blue-eyed girl could follow.

Tohru nodded frantically. Maybe this was her substitute for laughing? The curly-haired girl assured her that they would 'see one another around', and moved on.

The boy who was described as the 'latecomer' by Uniform Kid was standing to Tohru's right, swapping a word or two, now and then, with the blue-haired girl. Shiko decided to go and talk to them.

"Hello… My name is Shiko Kurosawa."

_Wait… backwards names, remember?_

"I mean… uh… however you want to put it… please call me Shiko-chan…" _Oh, God._

-"Shiko...**chan**?" The blue-haired girl emphasized the '-chan', before flashing Shiko a million-dollar-smile.

-"Oh, you're not from around here, are you?"

She couldn't help but laugh at herself a little bit, faced with this girl's undeniable air of happiness.

"Hehehehe… No, I've lived here for a while, but I can't seem to pick up the language… You seem to have picked it up well, though." Her fluent English caused Shiko to assume that the blue-haired girl wasn't a Japanese native.

"Oh, I'm from here, it's just… not all my fans speak Japanese." There was that winning smile again. "I'm Sayaka Maizono, Super High School Level Idol. You can call me Sayaka… **chan**." Her eyes twinkled.

Now Shiko was beginning to suspect Sayaka was mocking her. She moved on, not bothering to tell her title to those judgmental azure eyes, and addressed her fellow 'latecomer'.

"Hi. I'm Shiko Kurosawa, Super High School Level Classical Music Player."

-"Musician, you mean? I'm Makoto Naegi. You can call me by Naegi-kun."

She breathed a sigh of relief. _At least these two can get by with their English._

"Right, sorry. I'm trying to simplify things a little bit… I don't think anyone expected to have to speak English to a classmate…" Shiko trailed off. "Um, anyway… I didn't quite catch your title?"

-"Oh, it's nothing great. I'm supposedly the Super High School Level Luckster."

"I'm sure i- hang on. Naegi-kun, did you say? But isn't that your surname?"

Naegi looked defeated. -"Uhh, it's a, um… Maybe you can ask Ishimaru-kun about it later." He gestured to the boy in the white uniform who had called Shiko and himself 'latecomers'.

Shiko did not look forward to asking said 'Ishimaru-kun' about this naming system, although he seemed to be the only one so far who was both fluent in English and did not seem to think lowly of her… at least not because she didn't speak Japanese. Her ability to stick to schedule, however, was a different matter to be judged on altogether.

She walked up to the next person over (having given Naegi a rather deflated goodbye), and greeted the amber-eyed girl, introducing herself with title and all.

_I might as well get into the flow of things, right? From what I hear, I'm going to have to introduce myself like this all the time…_

"It's… good to know you. My name, Mutsuki Kanra. Ah, Super High School Level Doll's Master."

-"Kanra-" Shiko stopped herself from adding '-chan' at the end. Owing to her conversation with Naegi, she was too uncertain for that.

Kanra stopped her- _no prizes for guessing_- to ask about her name. "Shiko? _Sore wa…. kimyō…_"

_It is... something something, she said._

Shiko assumed that Kanra had thought her name was strange, as everyone did. "_Shi no ko_…" The two laughed about it together- the language barrier didn't allow for much else, but the curly-haired girl felt a bit closer to the self-proclaimed 'Doll's Master' nonetheless.

They said their goodbyes (Shiko's, a halted; ''Bye', Kanra's, a warm '_sayōnara_',) and Shiko headed over to the next- _Oh._

She was discouraged at this point. Everything about this kid- the wild red spikes in his hair, the overlarge faux-safety pin on his coat, the goatee, the grunge pattern on his shirt, the platform shoes, the fact that he was attempting to hit on one of the girls already- seemed to be the very image of the top rung of the social ladder… the one Shiko didn't, under any circumstances, want to go near.

However, Spike Hair Kid's air of 'I'm-awesome-and-everyone-knows-it' made Shiko suspect that it would only alienate her more from the other students if she didn't know the name of company like his.

Thus, she introduced herself to him, too- a little timidly, for though they were equals in height and stature, her oversized football coat and simple jeans couldn't combat the confidence emanated by his great many accessories or, looking beyond that, his piercing pale blue eyes.

The response, however, was uplifting.

"Leon's the name, baseball's the game!" He stopped himself and, after a moment's deliberation, continued reproachfully; "Not that I like it or nuthin', but it saves me havin' to do homework 'n' shit…"

She nodded, with no valid contribution to the conversation. Leon, however, picked it up again almost instantaneously.

"So, 'Musician', huh? I'll call you up if I need a guitarist, but the spotlights're mine." He winked.

Shiko forced a laugh (though it bugged her that he had paid absolutely no mind to the crucial word 'classical'- classical musician, which constituted that she could play divertimentos, menuetts, polonaises, but that conventional power chords were beyond her), and moved on.

The next two guys over were discussing- no, arguing- avidly and heatedly, but Shiko couldn't follow a word of what they were saying, naturally, in fluent Japanese.

One was stout and rotund and stood on spindly legs, speaking grandly- with a mouth so reminiscent of a hamster or other rodent you could almost call it a snout- while straightening his fluorescent orange tie, which had flown out of place with his wild gesturing, and adjusting his small, circular spectacles which were misting over.

Even though Shiko couldn't understand his words, she could tell he was passionate about whatever topic he was defending.

The other boy was a little taller than his opponent, about Shiko's height, dressed in rather formal attire- a long-sleeved white blouse with a tie- and his hunter green eyes flashed as he spoke in a quiet but very, very dangerous tone.

Finicking nervously with a loose thread on her woollen glove, Shiko decided to back away before those very same green eyes locked with hers and she froze to the spot, stuttering out an introduction.

"Umm… hello. I'm Shiko Kurosawa, the Su-"

-"Quiet. Nobody asked for your input." Green Eyes snapped back.

The hamster-faced boy bristled. ~"That's no way to talk to a lady- even if she is a banshee of the 3D world!"

"I beg your pardon-?" Shiko was astonished. Was this supposed to be his way of defending her?

Hamster Face chuckled and airily waved a meaty hand. "'Do not concern yourself." He motioned to himself. ~"_Ore-sama wa Alpha to Omega_… the Beginning and the End. Alternatively, you may address me as Hifumi Yamada."

He spun around on one foot, and one could almost _hear_ cheesy action-hero music playing behind him. "**Super High School Level Otakuuuuuu!**"

~"Now then-" Yamada pointed at Green Eyes. ~"This_ fool_ of a poet who calls himself Jin Yamanashi dares to call my _dōjin_ inferior to his _haiku_. What is your stance on the matter?"

Jin settled his eyes on Shiko again, as if daring her to side with Yamada.

Shiko wasn't very willing to oppose the insolent but unsettling Jin, nor enrage the extravagant Yamada by admitting that she hadn't a clue what a 'dōjin' was supposed to be.

She bowed her head, muttering that she needed time to think, as the two sides were difficult to choose from, and excused herself, hoping within her heart of hearts that she didn't have too many classes with those two.


	4. Chapter 2 (Finally, All The Characters!)

**A/N Aaaahhh, I'm so sorry! I wanted to make this a Christmas update, but the Internet wouldn't work with me. It's barely holding on as I'm updating. But I'm just glad I can make it available to you all now. Sorry again! ^^"**

**~37**

* * *

Shiko hadn't taken another step before a single playing card hit her full in the face. She caught it before it could flutter to the ground. _The ace of Hearts._

A dainty little laugh sounded from the girl now facing her, remarkable for her eccentric hairstyle- jet-black twin ponytails, curled excessively, that did not seem to obey gravity. "Would you mind returning that to me?"

It seemed obvious that the card had belonged to this girl, but why would she drop one? She was, as they spoke, effortlessly sliding a whole deck from one hand to another with her scarlet eyes still fixed on Shiko.

-"Oh- right. Sorry…" She handed the card back and the girl placed it into the deck.

Ignoring Shiko's apologies, the girl ploughed on with her introduction. "I am Celestia Ludenberg- the Queen of Liars is my favorite title of many, but in passing I would **very much like** to be addressed as 'Celes'."

_The 'Queen of Liars' isn't a very valid high school title, though._

Shiko guessed by the fact that she was holding playing cards, and that she spoke of lies as if they were sacred, that she was the Super High School Level Gambler.

_As a matter of fact_, Shiko realized, _she's probably telling a lie right now._

-"Hey, hang on. You're Japanese, aren't you?"

"I have fielded this question more times than you can count-" A glint of hostility was visible in Celes' red eyes. "-on those chubby little fingers, and yes. I was born and raised here. I can understand, however, that a beautiful name like mine would make you suspicious of my heritage."

-"Oh, I'm… sorry." The curly-haired girl pulled her maroon gloves a little tighter to hide said 'chubby little fingers'. "I think we got off to a bad start there. I'm Shiko Kurosawa, the Super High School Level Classical Musician."

"Hm. Shiko… with a name like that you may well rise above the lowly D-rank, but it will take a sizeable amount of effort on your part."

_What is she talking about?_

-"Ehehehe… right. Um, goodbye…"

Shiko moved on as quickly as she could without appearing scared, which, honestly, she sort of was.

Hovering nearby Celes was a boy- noticeable mostly for the fact that he was wearing shades indoors, because otherwise he was more plain-looking than anyone.

"Hello, I'm-"

-"Shiko Kurosawa," he interrupted, with a slight sort of stutter. "Super High School Level Classical Musician. Yes? If I tell you my name, will you leave?"

"Uhm…" Shiko was taken aback, both at his knowledge and his anxiety to get her out of the picture.

-"**Wonderful**. I'm Ichiro Yanagi. Or Iro. Whatever. Psychologist. Goodbye."

_Oh, that explains it. A psychologist has to have a lot of background knowledge…_

Shiko didn't want to agitate Iro any further, so she did as he strongly suggested she should, and moved on.

Shortly, a rather mellow-sounding male voice called out to her; "Yo!"

It was difficult for Shiko to immediately locate the source of the voice, for its owner was sitting cross-legged on the ground- a grinning (it seemed unfitting to call him 'boy') young man with hair that must've stuck out a metre and a half in every direction. "Sit, sit."

She sat opposite him, making to introduce herself, but he stopped her, closing one eye and folding his hands. "Ah… let me think… it's appearing to me… You're the Super High School Level Piano Prodigy, right? Shi-Shi Kurosawa."

Shiko sat, stunned. -"Um, yeah… you're close… But how did you-?"

He laughed. "Super High School Level Fortune Teller, Yasuhiro Hagakure."

A blonde boy standing a small distance away from them sniped; "Don't trick fools out of their money so soon, you rat of a fortune-teller."

Yasuhiro ignored him and continued; "Nice to meet ya, Shi-Shi."

-"Shiko…" she corrected, charily, before curiosity got the better of her and her voice took on a more excited tone. "But Shi-Shi is fine if you like- ah, can you predict something else for me? Or, um," Shiko corrected herself, hoping she hadn't offended Yasuhiro, "tell my fortune?"

"Sure," he answered wryly, "but it'll cost you."

Shiko nodded and rummaged around the small canvas satchel she had brought with her, finally extracting a handful of discolored coins.

The fortune-teller eyed them. "Five yen, six… euros, three… pounds? Nineteen dirham… wait." Yasuhiro squinted at the coins in disbelief. "Dinar? Francs? **Złoty**?" He looked up at Shiko, who was waiting anxiously for his approval. "Where did you even get these? They haven't made…" Another small pause as the two remaining coins were evaluated. "They haven't made marks since 2001!"

-"Oh, I'm sorry to waste your time…" Shiko's face visibly fell and she moved to get up, but Yasuhiro stopped her, looking guilty.

"Um, no, wait. I **guess** I can redeem these someplace…"

He procured a crystal ball from who-knows-where and began to spin a story of Shiko's future, while the latter listened, enthralled.

After all of twenty minutes, Yasuhiro checked the silver watch on his wrist and quickly finished; "-living peacefully in the retirement home."

Having thanked him most eloquently, Shiko moved on to- _Hey!_

That was Pizza Kid! She remembered him- it was difficult not to, if just for his outfit.

She waved at him. "Hi! I'm Shiko Kurosawa- I don't think I got to introduce myself properly before…"

-"No, you did **not**! I's Tenshihige-san, Super High School Level Pizzaiolo!" he proclaimed, a little more loudly than Shiko would have liked.

_'Tenshihige' seems like a surname, though… And what's a 'pizzaiolo?'_

"Pardon me, but is that your first or last name?"

-"Both! **Either**! Don't matter! Just Tenshihige-san!"

"Okay, well, nice to meet you!" Try as she might, Shiko couldn't return Tenshihige's grin with as much verve as he.

Next was a small girl who seemed to be on the verge of tears. Shiko thought she rather looked like she didn't want to be noticed, but went over to say hello anyway.

"Hello! I'm Shiko Kurosawa, Super High School Level Classical Musician! It's nice to meet you!" She spoke considerably louder than was planned (likely due to the recent meeting with Tenshihige), which seemed to intimidate the small girl further.

-"H-hi… I'm Chihiro Fujisaki, the Super High School Level Programmer…" she squeaked.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I was a little too loud just then-" Shiko cut herself off when Chihiro shrank back and shut her eyes, as if Shiko were going to hit her.

The latter looked down at her hands- she was accustomed to gesturing animatedly when she talked, but she would have to stifle herself in the easily-frightened Chihiro's presence.

Shiko apologized again and decided it would be better if she set off to talk to the next person.

"Hello, I'm Shiko Kurosawa, Classical Musician." The 'Super High School Level' was really getting tiring.

-"Technician," replied the girl, nonchalantly taking the hairtie from her chestnut ponytail, mussing her hair around, and tying it back up in the space of three seconds."Super High School Level Technician, Kairi Saitou."

Kairi held out a hand and Shiko tried not to wince at the rather firm handshake.

-"See ya 'round, death kid." Kairi chuckled and Shiko was glad for the friendly but simple exchange- talking to everyone had taken her too long already, because they all insisted on their own flamboyant and time-consuming introductions. Really, she mused, it's easy to empathize with Chihiro's intimidation, having classmates like these…

Her point was further proven when a next girl introduced herself loudly and excitedly.

"_Ohayou gozaimasu! Watashi wa Aoi to iimasu!_"

-"E-excuse me?"

"_Kuso_…" the girl muttered to herself, looking put out, and repeated slowly, gesturing to herself. "**A-o-i**."

-"Oh… Um… _Watashi wa Kurosawa Shiko_…?" Shiko inadvertently raised her voice.

The girl- Aoi, Shiko supposed- looked most surprised and whispered something to her companion, a tall and muscular…** individual**.

Said individual smiled and spoke in a decidedly masculine voice (which contrasted blatantly with the fact that he/she was wearing a skirt); "It is nice to meet you, Shiko. My friend wishes to register her surprise that a non-Japanese native has a name that translates so strangely into our tongue… For my part, I would like to introduce myself; I am Sakura Oogami."

-"Nice to meet you too, Sakura." That was the name of the cherry blossoms! _Sakura!_ And flower-like names were usually given to girls, so that eliminated the painful question regarding Sakura's gender. Shiko praised herself innerly for her skills of deduction.

She continued to explain; "'Shiko'? Oh… I know… it's a long story. My uncle studied Japanese when he went to university, and my mother, being obsessed with the country to the point of changing her surname to 'Kurosawa', asked him for advice on what to name me. She never double-checked her sources on its meaning…" For some reason, Shiko felt at ease with Sakura, despite her formal way of speaking.

"Ah. How… interesting." Sakura repressed a smile, and (presumably) repeated it to Aoi, who nodded.

They said their (again, oddly formal) goodbyes and Shiko attempted a 'sayounara' in Aoi's direction.

She paused; looking a metre or so to the right, Leon (the baseball player who donned so many rings and accessories) was conversing with a blonde girl who looked resilient- she was sporting a snake tattoo on her arm and multiple piercings.

"_Yoshi!_" She was telling him; "_Ē to,`rooooo' no yōna otowodasu inchi iki_." The girl demonstrated a kind of death metal scream.

"_No yōna_…?" Leon attempted it himself, failing miserably and dissolving into a coughing fit.

The girl grinned at him. "_Shinpai shinaide kudasai_." She then noticed Shiko watching them.

"Hello. I am Inoue Miharu." She introduced herself. Her English didn't flow very well- she accentuated the wrong syllables and spoke slowly, but it was fluent enough.

-"Hello. I am Kurosawa Shiko."

_Whyyyy, why would you copy her exactly?! She'll think you're mocking her!_

But Miharu only smiled and shook her hand warmly.

Shiko was glad for this, but didn't want a repeat of, well, repeating Miharu, so she quickly told her 'sayounara'.

"Mornin', sport. You look uncomfortable." an oddly gender-ambiguous voice spoke (Shiko assumed), in her direction.

-"I don't know. I don't speak enough Japanese to be able to make conversation with half the people here."

"Oh, you'll catch on soon enough. Name's Gaynor, by the way, or Gin…" he (Shiko had determined that Gin was male) added airily. "I've been to Hokkaido twice, never more 'n a month, and I can already… _**OI! Junko! Kimi no sukato wa kawaii!**_" he yelled, as if to demonstrate, turning his head right.

-"_Arigatou_!" called back a girl from the far right side of the room.

"Bu' tha's all right," continued Gin. "You've only just moved here, 'ight?"

-"Yeah," Shiko lied through her teeth, "It's pretty tough. Maybe someone here will teach me."

"Oh…" Gin inhaled sharply. "I'd offer, but I only know the basics m'self. 'S **him** you want." He gestured to the boy Naegi had called 'Ishimaru-kun'.

"Er… Him what was yellin' at you when ya arrived." he added. "But", he clapped his hands. "I didn't catch your name?"

-"Shiko Kurosawa."

"Oh, um…" Gin fixed a pocket on his cargo pants. "Were your parents not fond of you?"

-"Death child! I know! It'd be wonderful if that wasn't the first thing people asked me about!" Shiko burst out.

Gin sighed. "Beg your pardon. That was rude of me."

Shiko felt it awkward to apologize in return, and only shook his hand before sort of meandering off.

If Chihiro, Iro or Jin had seemed difficult to approach, the next girl Shiko laid eyes on was downright unapproachable. She was glaring resentfully around the room, standing stiffly against the back wall (which seemed uncomfortable, considering that there was a large, rotund metal door there).

Shiko debated with herself whether or not to go over and talk to the girl, in the end deciding to just go for it; after all, she couldn't be any worse than the others, could she?

"Stare at me, w-will you? Go ahead, feast your eyes on the freak girl."

Shiko was taken aback at the amount of sheer venom in her voice, and hastened to apologize for whatever it was she had done. -"What? No! I only wanted to say hello…"

"Oh yes, I'm sure that was it. Not come to stare? Perhaps call a friend? 'Hey, check out this girl Touko, oh my god, how do you even GET that ugly?'"

-"I don't think you're ugly… Ahh… My name is Shiko Kurosawa and I'll leave now." Shiko was becoming scared of this girl, who very clearly had a complex or illness of sorts.

"You don't need to lie to her." a cold voice caught Shiko's attention. "The Fukawa girl. She knows that she's an eyesore and you would do **well** to refrain from convincing her of the contrary."

-"Pardon me?" Shiko recognized him as the boy who had called Yasuhiro a rat, and her a fool, which instantly put him in the red half of the affinity gauge.

"Then again," he continued, ignoring her. "In the eyes of the Super High School Level Heir, Byakuya Togami, you and she are at the same level. Shiko Kurosawa, is that right? Death child. The name is fitting for a face like yours."

-"Yes, um, no, goodbye." Shiko was extremely flustered by Togami's (she had established a system in her mind, to call those she didn't like by their surnames) almost incredible rudeness, and tried her best not to run instead of walking calmly to the next person; a girl with light lavender hair who seemed to be trying to keep her distance from Togami as well.

"H-hello, I'm Shiko Kurosawa."

-"I assume you've been unsettled by our high-hearted heir… You do not seem the type to stutter." Something like a look of sympathy shadowed the girl's face. "My name is Kyouko Kirigiri."

They said a brisk but not unfriendly goodbye and Shiko moved on, recognizing the next girl as the one whom Gin had called out to… Junko, was it?

"Hello, I'm Sh-"

-"_E to, nani arimasen Eigo_." the girl cut her off.

"Oh- _watashi wa Kurosawa Shiko desu_."

-"_Enoshima Junko desu_."

Shiko, having reached the end of her Japanese, left Junko with a 'sayounara'.

Much to her relief, it appeared that there were just two last people Shiko had yet to meet; a rugged-looking boy in a biker jacket and who sported a most extravagant ginger pompadour, and the one who had yelled at Shiko upon her arrival.

The two were talking, or rather, arguing in a heated fashion.

Shiko, of course, could not follow.

Before she could form a 'hello' directed at either of them, the taller one with the interesting hair muttered something offhand; '_Ore wa Oowada Mondo_', and then, likely, something that was either 'nice to meet you' or 'piss off'.

"Ehm.. _Kurosawa Shiko desu_."

At this, Mondo turned and looked Shiko full in the face, before snorting in laughter.

The shorter of the two- Uniform Kid, Shiko recalled- intervened loudly.

"My **apologies**, latecomer," he accentuated this to drown out the other's snickering. "for my companion's behavior... and_ failure to take into consideration lingual disadvantages of a future classmate_, but I daresay he's **ashamed** of his English."

This would have sounded mean, were Uniform Kid not talking with pity in his voice.

"By and by, are you aware of any ulterior meaning to your name?" He seemed genuinely curious; willing to clear things up if the answer was 'no'.

-"**Yes**, and if you'd like to take a jab at it, you'll be the sixth, so go on ahead. See if the death child cares."

Shiko couldn't even have explained why she was so hostile all of a sudden, like she'd been with Gin, and regretted it almost instantaneously when Uniform Kid appeared quite ashamed of himself.

"By no means, of course... So!" It was almost eerie how quickly his smile regenerated. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Kiyotaka Ishimaru, Super High School Level Prefect!"

It made Shiko want to smile how he spoke his title with near-childlike joy and pride. "Right, well, they say repetition helps one remember... I'm Shiko Kurosawa."

"Super High School Level...?" he prompted.

-"Ehm, Classical Musician..."

"Tell me, Shiko, are you happy to be here?"

-"Of course!"

"Then take pride in your title- the very core of your school career! Say it in full!"

They repeated it together; 'I am Shiko Kurosawa, Super High School Level Classical Musician', several times until Kiyotaka seemed satisfied.

Wait, is that right? In her mind she was already referring to him as 'Kiyotaka', but everyone else she'd heard talk about him did so of 'Ishimaru'.

"Say, do you think you could teach me about names... here in Japan? How they work? See, everyone asks that I call them by either their first or last name, but I'm never sure which one to use under which circumstance."

-"Hm. I assume we'll be leaving to classes soon, but in short; the suffix -kun is used generally for males of one's own social status, whom you call by their surname- which applies, I daresay, to every male here. For females, -san is usually proper form, there the surname is also utilized, unless, of course, one considers oneself close enough to said female to use their first name and the suffix -chan."

"Right, thanks, that's a big h-" Shiko tried, and was interrupted.

-"**Then** there are the additional honorifics, such as -sama and -dono, which signify that the one you are addressing is of a higher social status than your own and in a position near reveration; these can be used with surnames, first names, or both.."

_I thought he said 'in short'..._

"**So**," she interjected rather loudly. "'Kiyotaka Ishimaru' will become 'Ishimaru-kun', 'Kyouko Kirigiri' will become 'Kirigiri-san', and if I were to become good friends with 'Kairi Saitou', it would be 'Kairi-chan.' Yes?"

-"Wonderful!" Ishimaru seemed very pleased, and so was Shiko; **finally**, no more confusion with names.

Right on a nonexistent cue, a video screen flashed on and from it rang a high-pitched, infantile and severely annoying voice that could have come straight from a Tim Burton movie antagonist.

Except, of course, for the fact that it spoke in Japanese and appeared to be an animate teddy bear.


End file.
